On Labour Day, riot police fought with demonstrators in Turkey, France, Italy, and Spain.
While protestors clashed with police in Paris, dramatic photos showed police charging protesters in Istanbul.Crowds were observed marching past tear gas in Lyon.
Thousands of people gathered for protests in Barcelona and Madrid, while clashes also occurred in Turin when police pushed on marches.
As thousands protested around the country on Friday, Turkish police used tear gas and detained scores of people participating in May Day protests in Istanbul.
A police officer was seen wrestling one individual to the ground.
The CHD Lawyers Association reports that police in Istanbul used riot-control trucks to shoot tear gas onto the crowd, resulting in the detention of about 370 persons.
Pictures of Erkan Bas, the president of the Turkish Workers’ Party, covered in pepper spray were also broadcast on the opposition broadcaster HALK TV.
“Let workers talk about the struggles they face at least one day a year; those in power already speak 365 days a year,” he remarked.
After announcing their plan to march to Taksim Square, the site of multiple previous anti-government demonstrations, which was blocked off by police overnight, two groups were singled out in particular on the European side of the city.
At a Labour Day march in Turin, Italy, police scuffle with demonstrators using a water cannon.
At the May Day protest in Lyon on Friday, demonstrators confront police.
On May Day, riot police battled with demonstrators in places ranging from Istanbul to Lyon, sparking violence in Turkey, France, Italy, and Spain. Pictured: Turin, Italy’s Labour Day
At a May Day gathering in Paris to commemorate International Workers’ Day, protesters scuffle with riot police forces.
In Barcelona, northeastern Spain, protesters gather for an International Workers’ Day event.
As protesters attempt to march into Istanbul’s Taksim Square, a Turkish police officer detains a union member.
As union members attempt to march toward Taksim Square in Istanbul, a lady yells at Turkish police officers.
During Lyon’s May Day protest, demonstrators march
Basaran Aksu, a union representative, was detained shortly after criticising the Taksim shutdown, saying, “You can’t close off a square to the workers of Turkey.” Taksim is used by everyone for festivals and official occasions. “Only the poor, labourers, and workers find the square closed to them,” he yelled.
Every year on May 1, which honours labourers and the working class in Turkey, a sizable portion of Taksim Square in the center of Istanbul is blocked off.
Over 400 people were arrested during protests that migrated to the city’s Kadikoy neighbourhood last year.
Access to Istanbul’s core areas was blocked on Friday by a sizable police presence, many of whom were wearing riot gear, and metal barricades.
Tear gas was used by police in the Mecidiyekoy area against a mob that included members of the HKP, a Marxist group, who attempted to advance while yelling, “USA murderer, (Turkey’s ruling party) AKP accomplice.”
Every time the protesters started chanting, the police surrounding the Besiktas neighbourhood intervened, sometimes forcefully. Several protestors were flung to the ground, according to reporters.
Turkish police detain union members as they attempt to march in Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
During the customary May Day labour march in Marghera, close to Venice, Italy, women carry signs.
During altercations with demonstrators at a Labour Day event in Turin, Italy, police fire a water cannon.
In Malaga, protesters gather for an International Workers’ Day event.
In Madrid, people participate in an International Workers’ Day rally.
During the May Day protest in Lyon, demonstrators march while using tear gas.
In Barcelona, protesters gather for an International Workers’ Day event.
As union members attempt to march into Istanbul’s Taksim Square, they clash with Turkish police officials.
As demonstrators marched through Lyon, the air was filled with pink smoke from flares.
The May 1 protests were organised by unions and civil society organisations under the banner of “Bread.” “Freedom. Peace.”
Turkish officials filed search and arrest orders for 62 individuals earlier this week, believing that 46 of them—including journalists, trade unionists, and opposition figures—were “likely to carry out attacks.”
“At 2:00pm (1100 GMT), according to our information, the number of people in custody stands at 370,” the CHD association for defending civil rights stated on X. The number was initially close to 200 arrests but later increased to at least 370 during Friday’s protests in Istanbul.
After a march progressed in the direction of the defunct Askatasuna social center in Turin, the situation worsened and demonstrators and police clashed.
Police used water cannons to drive the protesters back after they tried to breach a police perimeter by hitting shields with clubs and splashing policemen and troops with cans’ contents, according to Italian media sources.
Union banners bearing the phrase “Dignified Work” and a banner from the National Association of Italian Partisans led the march.
As thousands of people protested around the country on Friday, Turkish police used tear gas and detained dozens of people participating in May Day protests in Istanbul.
Here, protesters can be seen congregating downtown Lyon.
During the customary May Day labour march in Marghera, close to Venice, Italy, people hold flags.
Here, demonstrators in Turin are seen holding placards and waving flags.
During the May Day protest in Lyon, police charge at demonstrators.
In Lyon, between 6,500 and 12,000 people participated in protests.
In France, between 6,500 and 12,000 people participated in protests at Lyon’s Place Bellecour, where video showed police in riot gear charging demonstrators and setting off pyrotechnics.
Two people were taken into custody during the parade, according to the authorities.
They are charged with “violence (mortar fire) against persons holding public authority” and “participating in a gathering with the aim of committing damage,” according to Le Progrès.
In the meantime, protesters gathered in Barcelona and Madrid for International Workers’ Day protests, with large crowds taking to the streets to demonstrate support for workers nationwide.
